Urban Meyer: I still don’t get why Tim Tebow isn’t in the NFL

Urban Meyer is Tim Tebow’s biggest fan. Tebow and Meyer won two BCS National Championships together and enjoyed as much success as any coach-quarterback combination in NCAA football history. When Meyer thinks of Tebow, he must still think of the dual-threat quarterback who threw 83 touchdowns and just 15 interceptions and rushed for nearly 2,500 yards in his three years as a starter at Florida.

How do we know this? Because Meyer is somehow surprised that Tebow no longer has a job in the NFL.

“I still don’t get that part of it,” Meyer said Tuesday at Big Ten Media Days, via Dan Parr of NFL.com. “He’s the second-most efficient passer ever to play college football.”

Yes, Urban, college football. There have been countless NCAA superstars who have amounted to nothing at the NFL level (Eric Crouch, anybody?) and Tebow is another one of them. NFL coaches don’t have it out for Tebow. If he had what it takes to contribute, he’d still be in the league.

The reason Meyer gave for not understanding Tebow’s lack of employment is that there are plenty of offenses in the NFL now that are similar to spread college offenses.

“He had really good personnel around him (at Florida) and we utilized his skill very well,” Meyer added. “I think in a traditional setting, it is difficult, but there’s a lot of non-traditional offenses now in the NFL.”

At the end of the day, Tebow is a victim of the speed of the NFL. His delivery is too slow and his passing is below average. He doesn’t have enough speed to make up for that on the ground, so designed running plays could only be so effective. Meyer must see that. He’s just trying to be nice to his favorite player.